Students have voted for a new politics building at Aberystwyth University to be named after Plaid Cymru's first MP Gwynfor Evans.

It became Aberystwyth Guild of Students' official policy at a monthly meeting on Monday night.

The university said it welcomed the suggestion, but it had not made a decision about a name.

Mr Evans died in April, aged 92, and received tributes from across the political spectrum.

The new building, which is currently under construction, will be the new home of the department of international politics - the oldest one of its type in the world, said the university.

The guild's executive committee voted to lobby the university earlier on this, but Monday night was the first time students had a chance to vote on the issue. More than 200 attended the meeting.

We believe that Gwynfor Evans' name should be honoured

Stephen Hughes, UMCA

Students will now call on university chiefs to back their official policy.

At the meeting, Aberystwyth Welsh Students' Union (Undeb Myfyrwyr Cymraeg Aberystwyth) (UMCA) appealed to students to back its motion.

An online petition will appear on the guild's website shortly, said union officials.

Stephen Hughes, UMCA's president, said: "We are very pleased that the majority of the students in the university support UMCA's call, as we believe that Gwynfor Evans' name should be honoured as he did so much for our nation and beyond."

"So many students have respect for him because of his hard work on the language and on Wales, but also people have respect for him due to his hard work promoting peace and his involvement in CND Cymru."

Rhys Llwyd, the guild's Welsh language officer, said it was "obvious" that students were "very passionate" about the naming of the building.

A spokesman for the university said it welcomed the suggestion of the students but the process of selecting a name for the new building had not started yet.